It is a common practice to highlight selected areas of an embossed pattern on a plastic strip with a contrasting or complementary color. Prior application techniques include foil stamping, roll coating or manual painting. However, transfer from a coated foil to a substrate is a relatively expensive procedure and the durability of the color often proves unsuitable in some applications. Where the embossed pattern is of intricate design, the paint or die used in a painting technique often overruns the specific areas to be highlighted. The present invention contemplates an improved method of imparting a controlled decorative highlight to an embossed plastic strip on a mass production scale.